M (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond book and film series; the character is the Head of the Secret Intelligence Service—also known as MI6. Fleming based the character on a number of people he knew who commanded sections of British intelligence. M has appeared in the novels by Fleming and seven continuation authors, as well as appearing in twenty-four films. In the Eon Productions series of films, M has been portrayed by four actors: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes, the incumbent; in the two independent productions, M was played by John Huston, David Niven and Edward Fox. Films Eon Productions films Bernard Lee: 1962–79 M was played by Bernard Lee from the first Bond film, Dr. No, until Moonraker (1979). In Dr. No, M refers to his record of reducing the number of operative casualties since taking the job, implying someone else held the job recently before him. The film also saw M refer to himself as head of MI7; Lee had originally said MI6, but was overdubbed with the name MI7 prior to the film's release. Earlier in the film, the department had been referred to as MI6 by a radio operator. A number of Bond scholars have noted that Lee's interpretation of the character was in line with the original literary representation; Cork and Stutz observed that Lee was "very close to Fleming's version of the character", while Rubin commented on the serious, efficient, no-nonsense authority figure. Smith and Lavington, meanwhile, remarked that Lee was "the very incarnation of Fleming's crusty admiral." Lee died of cancer in January 1981, four months into the filming of For Your Eyes Only and before any of his scenes could be filmed. Out of respect, no new actor was hired to assume the role and, instead, the script was re-written so that the character is said to be on leave, with his lines given to either his Chief of Staff Bill Tanner or the Minister of Defence, Sir Frederick Gray. Later films referred to Lee's tenure as head of the service, with a painting of him as M in MI6's Scottish headquarters during the 1999 instalment The World Is Not Enough. ;Featured in: * The likeness of Lee was used in the 2005 James Bond video game adaptation of James Bond 007: From Russia with Love for the role of M by EA Games. Robert Brown: 1983–89 After Lee's death in 1981, the producers hired actor Robert Brown to play M in Octopussy. Brown had previously played Admiral Hargreaves, Flag Officer Submarines, in the 1977 film, The Spy Who Loved Me. Bond scholars Steven Jay Rubin, John Cork, and Collin Stutz all consider Admiral Hargreaves would have been appointed to the role of M, rather than Brown playing a different character as M. Pfeiffer and Worrall considered that whilst Brown looks perfect, the role had been softened from that of Lee; they also considered him "far too avuncular", although in Licence to Kill they remarked that he came across as being very effective as he removed Bond's double-0 licence. Continuation author Raymond Benson agrees, noting that the M role was "once again under written, and Brown is not allowed the opportunity to explore and reveal his character traits"; Benson also considered the character to be "too nice". ;Featured in: Judi Dench: 1995–2015 After the long period between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye, the producers brought in Dame Judi Dench to take over as the new M. The character is based on Stella Rimington, the real-life head of MI5 between 1992 and 1996. For GoldenEye, Dench's M is cold, blunt and initially dislikes Bond, whom she calls a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War." Tanner, her Chief of Staff, refers to her during the film as "the Evil Queen of Numbers", given her reputation at that stage for relying on statistics and analysis rather than impulse and initiative. Dench continued playing M for the 2006 film Casino Royale, which rebooted the series with Daniel Craig playing Bond. In this new continuity, M has worked for MI6 for some time, at one point muttering, "Christ, I miss the Cold War". According to Skyfall, M was previously in charge of MI6's operations in Hong Kong during the 1990s. Her ability to run MI6 has been questioned several times; in Casino Royale, she is the subject of a review when Bond is caught shooting an unarmed prisoner and blowing up a foreign embassy on camera; in Quantum of Solace, the Foreign Secretary orders her to personally withdraw Bond from the field in Bolivia and to stop any investigations into Dominic Greene's eco-terrorist organisation; and in Skyfall, she is the subject of a public inquiry when MI6 loses a computer hard drive containing the identities of undercover agents around the world. Skyfall marks Dench's final appearance as M, where she is targeted by Raoul Silva over a perceived betrayal. She is shot and killed in the film, making her the only M to be killed in the Eon Bond films. M (played by Judi Dench) makes a cameo appearance in Spectre in a video will. There have also been brief references to M's family: in GoldenEye, she responds to Tanner's "Evil Queen of Numbers" jibe by telling him that when she wants to hear sarcasm she will listen to her children. Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster suggested that Dench's casting gave the character maternal overtones in her relationship with Bond, overtones made overt in Skyfall, in which Silva repeatedly refers to her as "Mother" and "Mommy". In Skyfall she is also revealed to be a widow. Unlike the M played by other actors, Dench's M was never referred to by name on-screen. However, a prop from the final scene of Skyfall, where M bequeaths some of her possessions to Bond following her death, revealed that her character was given the name "Olivia Mansfield". As the character was never directly referred to by this name, its canonicity is unresolved. ;Featured in: Ralph Fiennes: 2012– After the death of Judi Dench's M at the end of Skyfall, she was succeeded by Gareth Mallory, played by Ralph Fiennes. Mallory had been the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee prior to heading up MI6, and is a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army, serving in Northern Ireland with the Special Air Service during the Troubles, where he had been held hostage by the Irish Republican Army for three months. ;Featured in: Non-Eon films John Huston: 1967 The 1967 satire Casino Royale featured not one but two Ms. The first is played by John Huston, who also co-directed. In this film, M's real name is McTarry and he is accidentally killed when, in order to get Bond out of retirement, he orders the military to fire mortars at Bond's mansion when the retired spy refuses to return to duty. The first quarter of the film features Bond's subsequent visit to McTarry Castle in Scotland, on a quest to return the only piece of M's remains recovered after the attack—his bright red toupée. David Niven: 1967 Subsequently, Bond—played by David Niven—becomes the new M and proceeds to order that all MI6 agents, male and female, be renamed "James Bond 007" in order to confuse the enemy. Edward Fox: 1983 In 1983's Never Say Never Again, Edward Fox played M as a bureaucrat, contemptuous of Bond—far removed from the relationship shared between Bernard Lee's M and Sean Connery's Bond; academic Jeremy Black notes that the contempt felt for the 00 section by Fox's M was reciprocated by Connery's Bond. Fox's M is also younger than any of the previous incarnations. Academic James Chapman notes that whilst M considers Bond to be an out-dated relic, the Foreign Secretary orders the 00 section to be re-activated. Images M (Bernard Lee) - Profile.jpg|Bernard Lee (1962–1979) M (Edward Fox) - Profile.jpg|Edward Fox (1983) M (Robert Brown) - Profile.jpg|Robert Brown (1983–1989) M (Judi Dench) - Profile.jpg|Judi Dench (1995–2015) Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) - Profile.jpg|Ralph Fiennes (2012–present) Category:James Bond series Category:Dr. No Characters Category:From Russia with Love Characters Category:Goldfinger Characters Category:Thunderball Characters Category:You Only Live Twice Characters Category:On Her Majesty's Secret Service Characters Category:Diamonds Are Forever Characters Category:Live and Let Die Characters Category:The Man with the Golden Gun Characters Category:The Spy Who Loved Me Characters Category:Moonraker Characters Category:For Your Eyes Only Characters Category:Octopussy Characters Category:A View to a Kill Characters Category:The Living Daylights Characters Category:Licence to Kill Characters Category:GoldenEye Characters Category:Tomorrow Never Dies Characters Category:The World Is Not Enough Characters Category:Die Another Day Characters Category:Casino Royale (2006) Characters Category:Quantum of Solace Characters Category:Skyfall Characters Category:Spectre Characters Category:Never Say Never Again Characters